Today's Best Apps: Salt & Pepper, Command-C And MapTool

The App Store takes delivery of hundreds of new apps per day. The overwhelming scene makes it possible to easily overlook an exciting game, valuable productivity suite, etc. However, we have a solution. Today’s Best Apps tackles this problem by providing you with a handpicked and tested list of apps that are truly worth your consideration each and everyday.
Remember: Even though in-app purchases typically require your iTunes Store password for processing, you can further prevent them and other unauthorized actions by enabling local restrictions using the passcode locked iOS parental controls

iPhone:

MapTool by Dan Iatco ($0.99, 10.1 MB): This multitool is a great companion for any wilderness activity enthusiast. The concept essentially combines the Maps and Compass apps, then adds a little extra. At the top, your currently facing direction displayed as text and in mini-compass form; along the bottom, current altitude, position, plus map type toggle button; and crossing through the middle, a distance scale guide grid. To improve the usefulness, the app also features accuracy measurements for each instrument as a disclaimer of reliability. Once an area is viewed, the map data does appear to be cached, although, I have not field tested.

Universal:

Salt & Pepper by Bleecker Street Solutions (Free, 1021.4 KB): Don't let the minimalistic appearance fool you because this e-cookbook is really rich in features. One of the most obvious benefits of a digital catalog would have to be legibility. Whether or not there's quality penmanship involved, paper gets worn, ink or lead, i.e., pencil, fades or smears, and things just get messy. Here, the procedure, ingredients, and more are displayed in formatted text for easy viewing, though that's not all. In addition, you're able to include preparation time, categorization, and a leading image to wonderfully showcase the dish along with a photo and/or video at each step for extra clarification. For the restaurant and others managing more than just the kitchen, the app also offers price tagging, automatic saving of ingredients for quick re-entry and batch size recalculations, filtered recipe directory and notes area, plus automatic database backup through iCloud. As a final bonus, the toolset contains an integrated converter and allows sharing via email.

Command-C by Danilo Torrisi ($3.99, 3.7 MB): Easily keep that workflow going among devices by utilizing this simple clipboard/pasteboard duplication and transfer tool. The formation of the "cloud" has satisfied the demand for multi-location progress continuation, such as moving papers from work or school to home computers and vice-versa. However, the process of creating a text-based document, uploading, downloading, and so forth is a bit tedious regarding something far simpler, e.g., a brief note or website address. Indeed, iCloud Tabs and the Notes app do work for the situation, though Command-C rolls everything into one: all text, including URLs, and even images. Just copy something like you would normally, switch to the Command-C app (iOS) or access the menuling (OS X), select the destination device, wait a moment for the clipboard contents to be reproduced, then move to the secondary and initiate the paste command as usual. It probably took far longer to read this than it would to complete the task. Full functionality does require installing Command-C for OS X, a free download from the Mac App Store compatible with 10.8 Mountain Lion or 10.9 Mavericks, and, optionally, every iDevice.